Corporate citizenship and corporate environmental performance

摘要

Corporate crime scholars typically seek to identify the characteristics that distinguish between criminal (or noncompliant) and compliant corporations, usually relying on amoral calculator models to explain offending. Yet, many companies comply and even overcomply with environmental regulations by polluting significantly less than legally allowed. Broader theoretical models may be necessary to explain this phenomenon. In the current study, I explore the utility of corporate citizenship, conceptualized as the degree to which firm culture promotes or inhibits a moral commitment to society, for explaining overcompliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act regulations. Findings offer little support for the proposed relationship between corporate citizenship and environmental performance. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.